For the last two years, DorkyDad has hosted the BBC Edinburgh Fringe Poetry Slam. It’s an exciting thing – four nights of heats, with six poets competing in each one, and the winner from each night going on to compete in a grand final.
It has finally cured me of my dislike of poetry slams – I get all the excitement of watching great spoken word, and the pride that comes with watching him on the stage, without the nerves of seeing him compete.
I am super chuffed that he has been asked to host for a third time this year, and looking at the lineup, it looks like the best ever. The Slam features 24 of the best performance poets in the UK – 12 women and 12 men – including UK National Champions, Scottish National Champions, two former BBC Slam Champions and the Scottish Makar.
Full details are below – it would be fantastic to see a supportive audience along for this, so please feel free to share.
BBC Slam Poetry at the Edinburgh Fringe at the BBC Venue, Potterrow
Monday August 12th – Thursday August 15th, 8pm
Saturday August 17th, 8.15pm
Compere: Young Dawkins
Monday August 12th: Anna Percy, Ross Sutherland, Paula Varjack, Robin Cairns, Cat Brogan, Colin McGuire
Tuesday August 13th: Rachel McCrum, Martin Daws, Liz Lochhead, Dan Simpson, Michelle Madsen, Bram Gieben
Wednesday August 14th: Jenny Lindsay, David Lee Morgan, Rachel Amey, Jim Monaghan, Lucy Ayrton, Harry Giles
Thursday August 15th: Deanna Rodger, Tim Turnbull, Stephanie Dogfoot, Stephen Ferguson, Sophia Walker, Graeme Hawley
Saturday August 17th: GRAND FINAL
Even the judges are brilliant. Kevin Cadwallender is the 2012 Scottish Slam Champion, Eleanor Livingstone is the organizer of StAnza, one of Europe’s most important poetry festivals, and Fay Roberts is organiser and host of the Cambridge chapter of Hammer and Tongue, as well as artistic director of the Spoken Word section of the PBH Free Fringe.
Each night will begin with a performance from a ‘sacrificial poet’ who does not actually compete in the slam, but who is awarded a score by the judges in order to calibrate their judging. The sacrificial poets are still to be announced.
The events are all free, but the final is ticketed. You can get tickets through the BBC website here.
There is a Facebook page for the event here if you want to mark your attendance and share with friends, and Kevin has put together a nifty wee video of all the poets here on YouTube.
Hope to see you there!
**Update 17th August 2013**
The four finalists are Rachel McCrum, Rachel Amey, Colin McGuire and Sophia Walker
Dorkymum | Stories from Tasmania 
I wish I was going, getting to go to a live Edinburgh festival, rather than just hearing the choice snippets on radio/tv is on my bucket list!
This is brilliant – thanks! 😀
Sneaky plug – you can find out more about the Free Fringe Spoken Word section here: http://bit.ly/pbhspokenword 😀
Can’t begin to describe how excited I am about all this – DD has assembled an amazing line-up. AGAIN!
Oh how I would love to be there! It’s on my bucket list too!
One day! Maybe you can sail up next year…
would anyone happen to know if the Poetry Slam final is being broadcast by the BBC at all in some way? e.g on the radio? or online perhaps? i’ve a friend in the final, but i’m stuck down South, and i’d really like to see or hear the final if at all possible!
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